ABSTRACT
Psychology as a discipline concerns the description, explanation and prediction of behaviour, thoughts and emotions. Organisational psychologists draw upon a range of theoretical and methodological traditions in seeking to address issues to do with human behaviour, thoughts and emotions at work. Most of this work is not specific to health care settings, but is designed to be generalisable to many contexts. Existing research and theory have something to say of practical importance in health service delivery and organisation, even though it is rarely framed in ways that exactly match health service managers’ day-to-day concerns or vocabulary. The methods used by organisational psychologists permit the investigation of a wide range of topics and a choice of underlying research philosophy. There are many published examples of organisational psychology making significant potential and actual contributions to health service delivery and organisation, particularly concerning aspects of human resource management.
